It’s 2021 and we’re still having to talk about workplace bullying and harassment. And unfortunately, not even Wonder Woman herself Gal Gadot is exempt. In a new report, one journalist has traced the numerous times actor Ray Fischer (who plays Cyborg/Victor Stone in 2017 Justice League) has called out the film’s director, Joss Whedon, who was repeatedly accused of racist and “abusive” behavior on the set.
According to the report by The Hollywood Reporter, sources from the set say Gadot was uncomfortable with several lines written by the director. Whedon then allegedly threatened to crash Gadot’s acting career.
“Joss was bragging that he’s had it out with Gal. He told her he’s the writer and she’s going to shut up and say the lines and he can make her look incredibly stupid in this movie,” an insider told the publication.
Tensions reportedly ran high during production and the dispute was forced to be contained by Warner Bros. In a statement, the Wonder Woman actress has said, “I had my issues with [Whedon] and Warner Bros. handled it in a timely manner.” Whedon declined to comment on the new report.
Fischer has long spoken out about Whedon’s behavior on social media. But following the film’s release four years ago it is believed that each of his posts on the matter were overshadowed by an announcement surrounding a new film by Warner Bros., most notably Jason Momoa‘s upcoming Frosty The Snowman film.
The Aquaman actor who was also on the set of Justice League noticed this cover-up pattern and spoke out against the film company in a later Instagram post, saying, “I just think it’s f***ed up that people released a fake Frosty announcement without my permission to try to distract from Ray Fisher speaking up about the shi**y way we were treated on Justice League re-shoots. Serious stuff went down. It needs to be investigated and people need to be held accountable.”
The 2017 film was considered a major flop with just a two-star rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Zack Snyder, the original director of the film returned in 2019 and 2020 to re-film major parts of the DC project for Zack Snyder’s Justice League which was released early last month.
